From Reasonable Accommodation to Understanding: Reconsidering Diversity Management Practices in Quebec.

En 2007, le Premier ministre du Québec, monsieur Jean Charest, a établi la Commission de consultation sur les pratiques d’accommodement reliées aux différences culturelles afin de donner suite aux conflits émanant des différences ethniques et culturelles. La commission a pour mandat de dresser le bilan des pratiques d’accommodement au Québec, d’analyser la problématique, de consulter la population et de formuler des recommandations au gouvernement afin d’assurer la conformité des pratiques d’accommodement avec les valeurs de la société québécoise. En premier lieu, ce mémoire démontrera que deux facteurs, dont l’évolution de l’identité de la majorité francophone et l’évolution des pays d’origine des immigrants, ont contribué à un malaise de gestion de la diversité et, par conséquent, ont rendu l’établissement de la commission pertinent. En deuxième lieu, m’appuyant sur une revue de la méthodologie, des conclusions et des recommandations de la commission, ainsi que la réplique du Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles, je vais illustrer que, malgré un mandat pertinent et achevé, la réponse gouvernementale fut inadéquate. Finalement, je démontrerai que les modèles de gestion de diversité soutenus par le rapport de la Commission, la laïcité inclusive et l’interculturalisme, sont des aspects nécessaires de la gestion de la diversité. Cependant, ils en découlent des philosophies politiques de neutralisme et pluralisme dont la force et le compromis en sont les buts. Je crois que le Québec peut être meilleur gestionnaire de sa diversité et peut obtenir de vraies réconciliations en prônant la conversation; une approche patriotique de la gestion de diversité.

Catholicisme et postmodernité : analyses philosophiques à partir de débats publics québécois

Avec la sécularisation, la laïcité et la diversité croissantes de la société québécoise, la place de la religion en général et du catholicisme en particulier se sont vues remises en question. Cette situation a d’ailleurs mené à la mise en place de deux commissions : l’une sur la place de la religion à l’école (1999) et l’autre sur les pratiques d’accommodements reliées aux différences culturelles (2008). Ces deux commissions auront fourni énormément d’informations sur les rapports qu’entretiennent encore les Québécois avec le catholicisme. Cette recherche a donc pour but de faire le point sur certains aspects du catholicisme au Québec à partir d’une perspective reposant principalement sur des instruments heuristiques issus des écrits signés « Jacques Derrida ». Pour ce faire, nous nous appuierons sur les travaux du Groupe de travail sur la religion à l’école, de la consultation générale sur la place de la religion à l’école et de la commission de consultation sur les pratiques d’accommodement reliées aux différences culturelles. Nous posons comme hypothèse que de manière générale, les Québécois entretiennent avec le catholicisme, des rapports « archivaux », c’est-à-dire conditionnés par des perceptions de ce dernier informées par son passé, plutôt que par son présent. De plus, ces perceptions du catholicisme, probablement développées dans le sillage de la Révolution tranquille et peut-être même un peu avant, nourriraient l’existence de « spectres » qui viendraient hanter les rapports des Québécois à tout ce qui touche le religieux et la diversité culturelle. En ce sens, il s’agit d’une dimension essentielle de ce que nous appellerions la « postmodernité » religieuse québécoise. Pour illustrer ce propos, nous mènerons une analyse de contenu documentaire. Premièrement, nous procéderons à l’analyse thématique de centaines de documents (rapports de recherche, rapports officiels, mémoires) déposés lors de ces débats. Le logiciel QDA Miner permettra d’effectuer une analyse documentaire en identifiant les passages thématiques reliés à la recherche. Nous procéderons ensuite à une analyse plus fine de ces extraits sélectionnés à partir de perspectives philosophiques provenant principalement du philosophe Jacques Derrida.

Les conditions nécessaires pour créer une solidarité entre féministes occidentales et musulmanes en Occident

Cette recherche a été entreprise au milieu d'une polémique qui a affecté beaucoup de pays occidentaux, mais était particulièrement prédominante dans la province de Québec. Cette polémique, ancrée dans le processus de globalisation, est née des accommodements reliés aux différences culturelles et était principalement due à une crise d'identité sociale. Pendant cela, les médias ont été pris d’une frénésie qui a fait en sorte qu’une culture (culte) a été ciblée plus que d’autres : l'Islam. Une discussion sur le rôle et l’identité des femmes dans l'Islam (particulièrement les femmes en hijab) a suivi. Le but de cette étude est de voir comment les féministes occidentales et musulmanes pourraient créer une solidarité en dépit de ce qu'elles voient parfois comme des différences idéologiques insurmontables. Les méthodologies utilisées pendant la recherche étaient la théorie (post)coloniale et l’approche féministe, et le corpus de connaissances était interdisciplinaire pour ensuite construire une perspective complète de la problématique. La conclusion montre que la création de cette solidarité est essentielle pour assurer les droits et les libertés des femmes (la liberté de conscience y comprise). Un élément nécessaire à cette solidarité était le dialogue interreligieux et les conditions de base qui créent un dialogue réussi sont, entre autres, l’écoute active, « l’inclusivité » et l’ouverture d’esprit. Les dialogues interreligieux sont un outil important dans une société religieusement diverse, et connaitre l'autre est fondamental pour surmonter les obstacles et favoriser la compréhension.

A proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, obesity and non-communicable disease prevention

Private-sector organizations play a critical role in shaping the food environments of individuals and populations. However, there is currently very limited independent monitoring of private-sector actions related to food environments. This paper reviews previous efforts to monitor the private sector in this area, and outlines a proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, and their influence on obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. A step-wise approach to data collection is recommended, in which the first (‘minimal’) step is the collation of publicly available food and nutrition-related policies of selected private-sector organizations. The second (‘expanded’) step assesses the nutritional composition of each organization's products, their promotions to children, their labelling practices, and the accessibility, availability and affordability of their products. The third (‘optimal’) step includes data on other commercial activities that may influence food environments, such as political lobbying and corporate philanthropy. The proposed approach will be further developed and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. There is potential for this approach to enable national and international benchmarking of private-sector policies and practices, and to inform efforts to hold the private sector to account for their role in obesity and NCD prevention.

Knowledge, attitudes and self-care practices related to sun protection among secondary students in Australia

The aim of this research was to ascertain changes in sun-related knowledge, attitudes and self-care practices among Australian secondary school students between 1993 and 1996. Two cross-sectional surveys of sun-related attitudes, beliefs and behavior of young people aged 12–17 years of age, were conducted in 1993 and 1996. Over 80% of adolescents at both time periods knew about the issues related to skin cancer prevention, frequency of burning and burning on cloudy days. Adolescent attitudes had shifted positively in the areas of staying inside in 1996 [relative risk (RR): 1.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–1.17] and staying under shade in 1996 (RR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.13–1.18). Desire for a moderate or dark tan was lower in 1996 (45%) than in 1993 (50%). Respondents reported that they were less likely to wear brief clothing to get a suntan in 1996 (RR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.78–0.84) and were significantly more likely to stay in the shade in 1996 (RR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.16–1.23). We conclude that there has been a shift in attitudes towards use of shade and avoidance of unnecessary exposure, and away from use of sunscreens and sunglasses. The results suggest that adolescents may be more ready to accept structural changes that move desired activities out of the sun.

A proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, obesity and non-communicable disease prevention

Private-sector organizations play a critical role in shaping the food environments of individuals and populations. However, there is currently very limited independent monitoring of private-sector actions related to food environments. This paper reviews previous efforts to monitor the private sector in this area, and outlines a proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, and their influence on obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. A step-wise approach to data collection is recommended, in which the first (‘minimal’) step is the collation of publicly available food and nutrition-related policies of selected private-sector organizations. The second (‘expanded’) step assesses the nutritional composition of each organization's products, their promotions to children, their labelling practices, and the accessibility, availability and affordability of their products. The third (‘optimal’) step includes data on other commercial activities that may influence food environments, such as political lobbying and corporate philanthropy. The proposed approach will be further developed and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. There is potential for this approach to enable national and international benchmarking of private-sector policies and practices, and to inform efforts to hold the private sector to account for their role in obesity and NCD prevention.

Directory : information sources on scientific research related to the preservation of books, paper, and adhesives.

Mode of access: Internet.

Employment Service : preliminary analysis of policies and practices related to performance /

"October 31,1989."

Knowledge and practices related to sexually transmitted infections among women of reproductive age living in Katanga slum, Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) still stand as one of the commonest health problems affecting women of reproductive age. The knowledge and practices of STIs, among susceptible populations such as women of reproductive age, living in slums like Katanga in Kampala Uganda need to be established. Methods: This was a cross- sectional study with 339 participants in Katanga slum. Data was collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire, entered and analysed using SPSS version 17.0. Data was summarized using frequencies for categorical data and medians for continuous data. Results: Majority of the participants (71.9%) were ≥25years with a mean age of 28.0(SD ±7.0) years. The commonest symptoms known to the participants were genital itching (60%) and genital rash (14.5%). Most mentioned multiple partners (63.7%) and unprotected sex (50.7%) as predisposing factors to STIs. Knowledge on methods of prevention was high (92.3%) however, 18.8% were found positive for STIs using the syndromic approach and 82% mentioned having suffered from STIs in the past 6 months more than once. Conclusion: Most participants did not know about the systemic effects of STIs to their health and did not follow the appropriate behavior patterns despite being knowledgeable about the various methods of prevention of STIs.

Estimation on disease burden related to hepatitis B virus infection in Shandong province of China [山东省乙型肝炎病毒感染所致相关疾病的疾病负担研究]

Objective: To comprehensively measure the burden of hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer in Shandong province, using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) to estimate the disease burden attribute to hepatitis B virus (HBV)infection. Methods: Based on the mortality data of hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer derived from the third National Sampling Retrospective Survey for Causes of Death during 2004 and 2005, the incidence data of hepatitis B and the prevalence and the disability weights of liver cancer gained from the Shandong Cancer Prevalence Sampling Survey in 2007, we calculated the years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs) and DALYs of three diseases following the procedures developed for the global burden of disease (GBD) study to ensure the comparability. Results: The total burden for hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were 211 616 (39 377 YLLs and 172 239 YLDs), 16 783 (13 497 YLLs and 3286 YLDs) and 247 795 (240 236 YLLs and 7559 YLDs) DALYs in 2005 respectively, and men were 2.19, 2.36 and 3.16 times as that for women, respectively in Shandong province. The burden for hepatitis B was mainly because of disability (81.39%). However, most burden on liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were due to premature death (80.42% and 96.95%). The burden of each patient related to hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were 4.8, 13.73 and 11.11 respectively. Conclusion: Hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer caused considerable burden to the people living in Shandong province, indicating that the control of hepatitis B virus infection would bring huge potential benefits.

Complex carbohydrates: 1. Conformational studies on some oligosaccharides related to N-glycosyl proteins which interact with concanavalin A

Empirical potential energy calculations have been carried out to determine the preferred conformations of some oligosaccharides having the trimannosidic core structure (Man3GlcNAc2) and which interact with concanavalin A. In the minimum energy conformations for the trimannosidic core the mannose residue on the Man α(1–6) arm comes close to one of the N-acetylglucosamine residues of the core. The addition of N-acetylglucosamine residues to the terminal mannose residues does not alter the preferred conformation of the trimannosidic core although it alters the relative preference of some of the higher energy conformations. The minimum energy conformation broadly agrees with available X-ray data. The presence of a bisecting N-acetylglucosamine residue on the middle mannose does not push the trimannosidic core to any new conformation but it does alter the relative preference for a particular conformation.

Regional review on livelihood opportunities related to mariculture development

This report examines the role mariculture could play in reducing poverty and providing alternative livelihood opportunities for people living in coastal areas. This includes a review of the current status of coastal poverty, coastal livelihoods and vulnerabilities within the Asia-Pacific region and the experiences and examples of sustainable economic development through mariculture. This review then identifies key follow-up actions and recommends strategies for future pro-poor mariculture development. (PDF contains 28 pages)